The Supreme Court has given an important verdict on marital disputes. Under this, the secretly recorded telephone conversation of husband and wife will be acceptable as evidence. The Supreme Court has said that it can be considered as evidence in the Family Court. Along with this, the Supreme Court has canceled that decision of Punjab and Haryana High Court. The High Court termed the wife’s telephone conversation as a ‘clear violation’ of her fundamental right to privacy without her knowledge. The High Court had said that it cannot be accepted as evidence in the Family Court.
Argument to be in danger rejected
This decision was pronounced by a bench of Justice BV Nagratna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. The bench said that the secretly recorded telephone conversation of husband and wife in matrimonial proceedings is acceptable as evidence. The bench said, “Some arguments have been made that accepting such evidences may threaten domestic harmony and marital relations as it will promote the spy of husband and wife which will violate Section 122 of the Evidence Act.” We do not think this argument is appropriate. If the marriage has reached the point that the husband and wife are actively spying on each other, then it is a sign of a broken relationship in itself and reflects the lack of trust between them.
What was the whole matter?
Actually, this case is related to challenging a decision of Punjab and Haryana High Court. The High Court’s judgment stated that recording her telephone conversation without her wife’s knowledge is’ clear violation of the petitioner-wife’s fundamental rights, that is, her right to privacy and cannot be accepted as evidence in the Family Court. In fact, the High Court had given this decision in a case related to divorce proceedings under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
The Bathinda Family Court had allowed the husband to use a compact disk with a phone conversation recorded with his wife to prove allegations of cruelty. Challenging this, the wife approached the High Court and argued that the recording was done without her consent. Accepting this will cause a violation of the fundamental right of his privacy. The High Court accepted his petition and quashed the order of the Family Court.
Why did the High Court deny?
The court said that it would be unfair to accept such recording as evidence as the negotiations were secretly recorded by any one party. The court said that the circumstances under which the answers were given cannot be ascertained and despite the cross -examination, they will not be able to assess such references. The court said that this cannot be said or cannot be decided in which circumstances the conversation or how the recording person reacted, as it is clear that the conversation would have been recorded secretly by any one side.
The High Court reiterated that husband and wife often talk openly, unaware that every word of their words can be investigated later in court. The bench also cited the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, stating that recording the talks of husband and wife without consent is an illegal and violation of privacy, which makes such evidence unacceptable. The husband challenged the High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court issued a notice on it on 12 January 2022.
